The Prince and the Pop Star
by magicallove3
Summary: Just a story about childhood friends falling in love, you know, the typical cliche.
1. Chapter One

It felt weird to be in Japan like this. Just a few weeks ago I was traveling around Europe performing sold out shows but now… I was going to high school. And some stuck up prep school at that. Sure, schools in France were pretentious as well, but this school was more like a party – a bad one at that – than an educational facility. What was with the frilly yellow dresses as uniforms!? Screw that. I don't want to waste any of my earnings on an ugly dress that I would never wear. I'm sure I'll find something similar from my performance wardrobe. Thankfully, I still have one more day to dress comfortably.

After meeting with the chairman of the school to get the final paperwork in order, I was encouraged to explore the school in order to learn my way around. He suggested that I even visit my class to meet my teacher and classmates, but I decided that I'd rather wander around Ouran Academy. I wanted to find a place to practice in case another show was to pop up unexpectedly. My manager loved to surprise me with impromptu shows. I will be in class tomorrow anyway. After picking up my suitcase full of my belongings that I had hidden before my meeting, I found my way to a quiet part of the school. On the top floor of one of the many buildings, I found an abandoned music room. _Perfect!_ I thought to myself trying to open the door. It was locked. As if that would stop me. I pulled a bobby pin out of my long strawberry blonde hair, allowing my hair to fall around my shoulders. I had been locked out of my own home enough times to learn how to get through any door. I quickly picked the lock and slipped out of the hallway.

"Bingo~" I sang to myself as I looked around the large space. There were several tables and couches arranged around the room. Leaving my suitcase by the door, I moved some of the furniture out of the way before setting up my iPod speakers.

"What to practice…" I spoke to myself, going through my music. I wasn't in the mood for anything too edgy, nor did I feel like making too much noise that might attract people. I finally came across a song that would be perfect. I slipped on a pair of spandex shorts under my skirt and put on my ballet pointe shoes. It had been awhile since I got back to my roots, it would be good to practice some ballet. I put on Mozart's Sonata in D Major for Two Pianos and allowed myself to be taken back to my childhood when I was first learning how to dance.

_ "__Lori! Want to practice with me?" _

_ "__Hehe sure!" I slipped on my shoes as he took a seat on the piano bench in my home. The music slowly began and I carefully practiced my positions and turnouts. As the music continued I decided to try and stand up all the way on my toes like the older girls could do. I wanted nothing more than to be able to dance en pointe. I was almost up all the way when my ankles gave out on me and I fell to the ground. Tears of pain, frustration, and disappointment clouded my eyes as I remained where I fell. It took me a moment to realize that the music had stopped and I looked up to see why. My friend was sitting on the ground next to me, placing an arm around me and looking worriedly down at me. _

_ "__Are you okay Lori?" he asked, whipping away my tears. _

_ "__I'll never be able to be a ballerina." I replied, giving in to my sadness and sobbing. _

_ "__You can do it Lori! It just takes practice! That's why we practice together, so we can get good at this stuff. Do you want to practice singing for a while instead of dance? I can play anything you want!" He was smiling so reassuring at me that I immediately felt better. Sniffling a little bit, I nodded and let him help me off the ground. He held my hand as he led me to the piano bench and began to play my favorite song. _

As the song I ended I spun on my toe quickly; unfortunately, the ground was a bit slicker than I was used to. As I tried to end gracefully, my foot slid and I was quickly headed to the ground. I tensed up, shutting my eyes and bracing for impact, but before I hit the ground something warm wrapped around me, holding me in place midair. I opened my eyes to see a familiar pair of unique purplish-blue eyes staring down at me.

"Lorraine?" An equally familiar voice asked.

"Tamaki?" I replied, realizing whose arms I was in.


	2. Chapter 2

"Lorraine?" An equally familiar voice asked.

"Tamaki?" I replied, realizing whose arms I was in. He stood me upright and stared down at me – he was a good five or six inches taller than me now. He kept his hands on my shoulders as if I would disappear if he let me go.

"Oh my god. Lori! It is you!" He exclaimed, sounding like a child who just found his favorite toy. He extended his arms, about to engulf me in a hug, when I quickly reared my hand back and slapping him across the face. His eyes when wide in shock as he moved a hand to cover his red cheek.

"TWO YEARS!" I yelled, pissed off, " It has been TWO years since you left and you never made any effort to contact me! Bastard!" His eyes began to tear up in reaction to my anger.

"I—I am so sorry Lori… I…" Before he could speak anymore, I moved quickly and tugged on his sleeve to pull him down before kissing the cheek I had hit, and smiling at him, before hugging him tightly.

"It is good to see you again Tamaki. I missed you." I told him, feeling him heat up from most likely blushing.

"Wow Tono. You certainly are _familiar_ with this girl." I heard a pair of voices say as I pulled away from the long overdo hug. I looked past my blonde friend to see a pair of auburn haired twins, a tall dark-haired man with a young looking blonde on his shoulders, a man looking about my age wearing glasses, and a girlish looking kid wearing a boys uniform.

"S—Shut up!" Tamaki stammered, as I switched back into my normal shoes.

"Wait," the girlish looking individual spoke up, "Aren't you… Lori Robin?"

"The pop star?" the twins asked in unison.

"Um… I—" I started to speak.

"Why would a pop star go to high school?" one of the twins asked.

"Well—" I tried again.

"Shouldn't someone famous be doing famous things?" the other added. I stared at them, blankly, waiting for them to finish. Once there was a break in their speech I spoke.

"Maybe a pop star wants a good education so when she is no longer famous she can go to college and get a normal job like everybody else." I said, exasperated. The group just stared at me before the girlish looking kid ran up and grabbed my hands excitedly.

"I knew it was you! I have all of your albums! I even wrote you a letter once. My name is Haruhi Fujioka." She said. I wasn't sure if this individual was a boy or a girl until I heard her name.

"I remember you letter well! It was right before my first international tour." I smiled at her, happy to meet a fan, "I wrote you back, did you ever get it?"

"No, I'm sorry, I didn't." She replied.

"No, please don't apologize! I'm sorry. My manager was supposed to send it but he was fired and it must have been before he was able to. He was kind of a dick." I laughed.

"Such language Lori!" Tamaki whined.

"I'm glad I can meet you in person to make up for it!" I continued, ignoring him, "But why are you wearing one of the boys' uniforms? You're so pretty I bet you'd make even that horrid dress look good."

"Lori-chan, how did you know that Haru-chan was a girl?" the young looking blonde boy asked, very confused as everyone else seemed to become alarmed.

"Because of the letter she sent me. It was clearly written by a girl." I replied.

"That's so cool that Haru-chan wrote you a letter!" The boy smiled brightly. I grinned back at him happily before turning back toward Tamaki who was giving a lecture about how impolite it is for a lady to use such foul language.

"Tamaki." I said, cutting him off.

"Y—Yes?" He asked, startled a bit.

"Aren't you going to introduce all of your friends? You're being rude." I smiled sweetly at him.

"Ah! Sorry. Of course!" He cleared his throat before standing up straighter, taking on an air of a proper gentleman, before speaking again, "You know Haruhi, she is in class 1-A along with the twins, Hikaru and Kaoru of the Hitachiin family," he pointed toward the auburn haired boys who were several inches taller than me.

"Nice to meet you Star-chan!" They greeted in unison, giving me a nickname which I assume is based on my stardom.

"This is Kyoya Ootori," Tamaki continued, "He is in class 2-A with me."

"I have heard a lot about you, it is nice to finally meet you." The boy with glasses said, bowing slightly.

"It is nice to meet you too," I replied, bowing back, "I'm in 2-A as well so I'm sure I'll get to hear a lot about you too." I noticed that Tamaki lit up a bit when I mentioned I was in his class as well.

"And finally, in class 3-A, we have Takashi Morinozuka – or Mori – and Mitsukuni Haninozuka – or Honey." Tamaki finished introducing the giant man and the young looking boy.

"You two are in the same class?" I asked, my eyes growing wide in disbelief. They nodded in unison, the tall man keeping a straight face and the blonde smiling from ear to ear.

"So how do you know Tamaki?" the twins asked.

"We've known each other since we were babies." I explained, "We were pretty much raised together, we were inseparable, except when I was in ballet class and he went to piano lessons." I laughed a bit at the irony of me becoming the musician after spending a year telling him that pianos were stupid. Before I realized they were even moving, the twins suddenly had linked arms with me on either side, chuckling mischievously.

"Childhood friends, huh~?" one said.

"Does that mean you two are going to get married?" the other added. I stared at them, one eyebrow raised, as poor Tamaki turned beat red.

"Maybe," I joked, causing my oldest friend to stare at me wide-eyed, "If he ever apologizes enough to make up for not talking to me for three years." Tamaki fell to the ground in despair, he always was a dramatic person.

"I thought only Haruhi could make the king that depressed that quickly." The twins said.

"It's a talent." I laughed, "So, what are you all doing here anyway? This part of campus felt deserted."

"You mean you haven't heard of us?" A twin asked.

"All the girls have heard of us." The other said.

"Well, today is my first day and I haven't." I told them, crossing my arms over my chest.

"We, my sweet Lori~" Tamaki started, standing elegantly in front of me with a big smile on his face—he always managed to turn his moods around quickly, "Are the Ouran High School Host Club!"


	3. Chapter 3

"We, my sweet Lori~" Tamaki started, standing elegantly in front of me with a big smile on his face—he always managed to turn his moods around quickly, "Are the Ouran High School Host Club!"

"The what?" I asked, afraid I had misheard or mistranslated what he had said.

"We entertain the lovely ladies at our school!" Honey said excitedly.

"Is that why I haven't heard from you in so long, Tamaki? Some other girl has kept you from ever trying to talk to me? And to think, I thought we would always be friends." I imitated his overdramatic fit of despair. I looked down, allowing my bangs to cover my eyes as if I were about to cry. Before I knew it, though, his hand was under my chin, turning my face up to look at his. His face was mere inches from mine and his eyes had a stern but caring look in them.

"I sat down to write you over a hundred times, Lorraine. It broke my heart every time I tried to put a pen to paper, though. I hated that I never even got the chance to say goodbye. Please forgive me." He said, shutting his eyes sadly and pressing his forehead against mine. I was surprised by his actions.

"I—It's okay, Tamaki. I was j—just teasing." I stuttered quietly. He opened his eyes, moving his head away from me slightly. I smiled up at him.

"I think we have a lot of catching up to do." He whispered before looking over my shoulder, "Is that a suitcase?"

"Um… Yah." I replied, stepping away from him and looking at the ground.

"Kyoya," Tamaki spoke up, "Cancel club activities for the day. Lori and I have some important business we need to take care of."

"Of course." Kyoya replied as Tamaki grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door, grabbing my bad as we left the room.

"H—Hey! Where are you taking me, Tamaki?" I asked as he dragged me down the hallway.

"Where are you staying, Lori?" I didn't reply. I couldn't tell him I was sleeping wherever I could find shelter. I had planned to hide out in the music room tonight, but now I knew that wasn't an option. He stopped walking and turned to face me.

"What happened since we were last together?" He asked. I stared at the ground.

"A lot." I said simply, not wanting to admit the truth.

"Lori…"

"It's fine, I became famous and all." I forced a smile. He gave me a look, knowing there was more to it than I was saying.

"Where are you staying now?" Tamaki asked again.

"Wherever I can find an open space." I answered honestly. He pulled out his cellphone and called for a car to come around before grabbing my hand again and walking again. I decided it best not to question him further and simply allowed him to drag me out of the school. We soon got in a limo and were off.

"You seem to be doing really well, Tamaki." I smiled at him as we sat next to each other in the vehicle.

"I've missed you." He said, "I've kept up with you through the media, though. You've been all over the world now. Just like you always wanted to when we were kids."

"You can't believe everything you hear in the press." I said flatly, thinking about all of the scandals I was apparently involved with, "I haven't seen much of the world though. They keep me pretty busy with shows, autographs, and press stuff. Plus, we always planned to go together, remember? You still owe me a trip."

"Of course." He smiled.

"I'm glad to see you've made so many good friends! They all seem very nice." I told him. His smile widened and he began to talk happily at a rapid speed about how amazing they all were in their own unique ways. I smiled and listened to everything he had to say, realizing how much I had missed talking to him for the last few years. I could have used his shoulder to cry on more times than I could count over all of this time.

"Ah, we're here." He finally said, looking out the window. I follow suit and looked out to see a large mansion at the end of the long driveway we were on.

"W—Where are we?" I asked.

"Home." He replied with a smile.


	4. Chapter 4

"Welcome home young master!" A group of maids greeted when we walked inside the way too big mansion.

"Thank you! Can someone please make up the guest room adjacent to mine? Miss Robin will be staying with us for a while. Please make her feel at home." Tamaki replied.

"Yes sir!" They all replied before taking my bag and scurrying off.

"T—Tamaki! This is too much! I'll find a place to stay, you don't have to do this." I resisted.

"Nonsense. You and your mother had me stay with you more times than I can count. I'm just returning the favor. Come on, I'll show you where your room is." He said, smiling his normal, charming smile before walking toward the grand staircase. I felt heat rush to my cheeks as I realized just how handsome he had become. I shook my head before following him upstairs. His home was beautiful, as his home in France had been. Good taste ran in his family.

I was barely listening as he was pointing out different pieces of art and what all the different rooms were. I was so distracted by everything that had happened in the past few hours that I ended up walking straight into Tamaki when he stopped. I stumbled backward, embarrassed, and apologized in French several times. A second later, I was lifted off the ground and spun around.

"You're so cute Lori!" He cheered excitedly.

"T—Tamaki! You're going to make me sick!" I laughed, trying not to blush at being held so close to him. He slowly set me down but kept his arms tightly around my smaller frame.

"I just don't want to let you go." He whispered. After a moment of hesitation, I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. After another minute, we finally broke apart from one another and muttered something quickly before opening the door to the room I would be staying in.

"Oh! Master Tamaki! We're just finishing making up the bed now." One of the maids said as she put another pillow on the already pillow-covered bed.

"Everything looks perfect, thank you Mina." My friend told the woman with his signature smile. She smiled and bowed before exiting the room. I looked around the room in amazement. I had spent the last few months cramped in a tiny tour bus or hiding in a crowded hotel. The room was the size of an apartment; complete with a sitting area around a fireplace, floor to ceiling windows with an amazing view of the grounds, and a king size bed.

"This is amazing." I said.

"I'm sorry it's so small, it's the room closest to mine so if you need anything I'll be easy to find!" He apologized.

"Small? Are you nuts? This is amazing!" I told him as I launched myself onto the bed, "So comfy~!"

"Make yourself at home." Tamaki laughed, "How about you unpack and I'll draw you a bath." He excused himself to the bathroom attached to my bedroom and I managed to find my closet. It was a walk-in larger than the bus I stayed on. It had been so long since I had had luxuries like these, I had forgotten what it was like to live in a nice house. It didn't take me too long to unpack all of my belongings, seeing as I didn't have a whole lot to unpack. When I walked out of the closet I found Tamaki straightening out the sheets that I had messed up by leaping on to the bed earlier.

"Ah, sorry." I apologized for messing up the bed.

"Don't be silly, Lori! Go relax in the bath and I'll go see when dinner will be ready." He smiled brightly at me.

"O—Okay." I replied as he walked out of the room. I found myself wanting to run after him, to make sure he didn't leave me again, but I forced myself to take a deep breath and stay in my room. I glanced down at the watch I was wearing to find that it was already past 5 p.m., much later than I expected to be. I moved into the large bathroom to find a huge bathtub filled with water and bubbles surrounded by several lit candles. He always did take things to the next level. I smiled a bit to myself before undressing and fully submerging myself in the warm water. I sighed happily, allowing the water to wash off the day. I instantly felt my muscles relax and I had to think hard about the last time I had felt this nice. Not since I was in France.

I took my time in the bath, washing my hair along with the rest of my body. The smells from the soaps and the candles along with the warmth of the water made me forget all of my troubles and worries. I almost didn't want to get out of the water. With a final sigh, I climbed out of the water and drained the tub. I found a large white towel and dried myself off before realizing that I didn't bring any clothes into the bathroom with me. I slowly opened the door and peeked outside into the bedroom to make sure Tamaki hadn't returned. I tiptoed out of the bathroom and tried to make it to the closet. _Tried_.

"Lori~! Dinner is almost ready!" The door burst open as Tamaki came bustling in. Unfortunately, my friend came running in right as I walked by the door causing him to crash right into me. In a flash we were tumbling to the ground. I felt his arms wrap tightly around me in midair and a second later he had flipped us over to where I crashed on top of him.


	5. Chapter 5

"Ouch." I whined before looking up at his face, "Are you okay?" His cheeks were a dark shade of red as he stared up at my mostly exposed body. Realizing I was making him very uncomfortable, I held my towel tightly around myself and rolled off of him to where I was sitting on the floor next to him.

"I—I am so sorry!" He said, averting his eyes, "W—What are you doing in nothing but a towel!?" He jumped up and yelled overdramatically looking down at me. He quickly realized that he was staring at me and immediately turned around.

"Oh relax, we used to take baths together. It's not like you've never seen me naked before." I sighed, heading toward the closet.

"Th—That's different! It's inappropriate for a young woman to be walking around without clothes!" He yelled quickly as I shut the closet door and starting looking for what I wanted to wear.

"But bursting into a young woman's room as a young man is acceptable?" I called through the door, teasing him a bit. I could hear him trying to form some kind of argument to defend himself as I slipped on a large t-shirt that went to just above my knees and some leggings. I put my hair up in a loose bun as not to deal with it until it dried a bit. I opened the door and returned into my new room to find Tamaki mumbling to himself in the corner of the room. I shook my head before moving and sitting in front of him on the ground.

"Lori is so mean…" He muttered staring at his hands in his lap.

"How about some dinner, René?" I asked, calling him by his French name. His face immediately snapped up to look at me in surprise.

"Lorraine…" He whispered.

"Come on," I smiled, grabbing his hands and standing up with him, "I need you to show me where the kitchen is." I dragged him out of the bedroom and into the hallway.

"Is that my old shirt?" He asked, moving to walk beside me and inspecting the shirt.

"Possibly, it turned up in my closet one day, I was never really sure where it came from. It is certainly long enough to have been yours with how freaking tall you are." I replied, looking down at the soft fabric.

"I was wondering where it disappeared to. I thought I lost it in the move." He said.

"Well, you're not getting it back. It's my favorite." I told him sternly. He laughed a bit as we walked down the stairs.

"Okay~ It's yours." He laughed. I smiled up at him as I stepped off the soft carpet and onto freezing tile. I jumped a bit in surprise at the cold.

"Huh? Are you okay?" He asked.

"I forgot shoes… It's okay, it's just cold." I smiled up at him trying to reassure him everything was fine. A moment later, I was scooped up into Tamaki's arms and he kept walking across the cold floor.

"It's not that much farther, I'll ask for someone to bring you some slippers when we get to the dining room." I blushed a bit, feeling his heartbeat.

"I—I'm really okay you nut!" I said, trying to get out of his grasp. He simply held me tighter.

"A gentleman never lets a lady walk on cold ground." He replied simply.

"You've become much more polite since we were in France." I told him, looking up at his face. I noticed how his features had become more sharply defined and he seemed much more mature.

"I've always been polite!" He whined.

"What about that time you stole my teddy bear?" I asked him.

"W—Well… You stole my shirt!" He snapped back, "Plus at least I've never hit you." I laughed, thinking about how I slapped him earlier.

"I kissed it better didn't I?"

"It still hurts." He frowned. I rolled my eyes before shifting in his arms to move up and kiss his cheek again. I felt his skin warm under my lips.

"Better?" I asked, looking up into his eyes. He stumbled a bit, almost dropping me in the process.

"Ah! Sorry Lori!" He said quickly, holding tightly to me. I was gripping his uniform shirt, terrified that I was going to fall.

"What is going on here?" A voice asked. Tamaki turned to where we were facing an older woman with a stern face.

"Ah Shima. I was wondering where you were." My friend smiled brightly at the woman.

"Who is this young woman you are toting around master Tamaki?" She asked.

"This is Miss Adele Lorraine Robin Bellerose," He replied using my full name, "She was my closest friend growing up and will be staying with us for awhile." The woman made a discontent face. I struggled to climb out of Tamaki's arms. Once my feet were on the cold ground, I bowed deeply toward the woman.

"It is very nice to meet you Shima." I said.

"At least she is polite." The woman whispered to herself, "Tamaki, have you gotten permission from the main house to allow her to stay here?" He froze, apparently forgetting to ask if I could stay here.

"I can find somewhere else to stay if it is too much trouble to stay here." I told her, preparing to go repack my bags.

"No!" Tamaki spoke up, "You will stay here. Shima, father has known her and her family for years, I am sure that he will have no problem with her staying."

"Alright young master. Please enjoy your dinner." She replied before walking off.

"Upsidaisy!" Tamaki said, lifting me off the ground once more, "I wouldn't want your feet to freeze."

"I'm okay!" I struggled to get down again, but he refused to let me go.


	6. Chapter 6

It was another few minutes before we made it to the carpeted dining room. Tamaki set me down gently in front of all of the food that was laid out on the table.

"Oh wow. This looks delicious!" I beamed, excited for a quiet, exquisite dinner. I noticed several Japanese dishes as well as some of my favorite French dishes.

"I asked the chef to prepare a little bit of everything. I hope that's okay." He smiled. I grabbed a plate and immediately began piling food onto it.

"Of course! I'm starved!" I looked over my shoulder to see Tamaki shooing away a few servants who I assumed were trying to prepare a plate for me. I blushed, embarrassed, but didn't say anything about it. My friend quickly prepared his own plate as well and led me to the end of a long table where we happily ate together.

"Do you remember how we would have a scheduled weekly dinner together every week?" Tamaki asked. I laughed.

"Of course! Do you remember how we never needed to schedule it because inevitably we were either at my house or your house already?" I replied, eliciting a laugh from him as well.

"We really were inseparable, weren't we?"

"For a long time, yes." I replied, trying not to let the sadness of him leaving a few years ago seep into my words. He looked at me as if he were about to apologize once more but instead he asked,

"I'm curious about something. That apparent scandal with your manager, was that true?" I looked down at my plate.

"Of course." I answered quietly. I had fallen in love with the man before my fame hit and I thought he loved me too. I was prepared to give anything for us to stay together. It came out though that he had been sleeping with several other women in the industry. When I tried to break up with him, he made a huge spectacle of everything through the media and did everything he could to make me look bad. Thankfully, another manager came around and saved my career by smoothing everything over. The only thing my new manager couldn't fix was my broken heart. That man broke my heart.

"I'm so sorry, Lori. I—I should have been there. Or tried to call. Or something…" Tamaki said softly.

"Yes, you should have." I replied sternly, "I must have left you a hundred messages. I needed my friend." He looked down regretfully.

"Lori—"

"Forget it." I said, tossing my napkin on the table and walking out of the dining room. When I heard his chair move as though he was about to follow me, I took off in a run through the mansion. I could feel the tears rushing to my eyes and I didn't want him to see me cry.

After a few minutes, I stopped running. I had no idea where I was, but I couldn't hear Tamaki calling after me so I allowed myself to slump against the wall and fall to the floor. I buried my head in my knees and cried. Not only did I have my heart broken by the man I was head-over-heels in love with, but I had it completely destroyed by Tamaki when he completely ignored me in my time of need… It wasn't just a bad break up that hurt me. At that point in my life, everything was going to hell.

"Lori! Where are you? Lori!" I heard the familiar voice call after a little while. I didn't say anything; I just sat there and tried to curl up into nonexistence. A second later, I felt a warm piece of cloth drape around my shoulders.

"I'm glad I found you." Tamaki said, sitting on the ground next to me and pulling his school blazer tighter around me. I didn't realize I had been shaking until he pulled me close to him.

"Tamaki…"

"I won't ever forget that. I should have been there for you. I was so scared to talk to you though." He said.

"Y—You don't have to make e—excuses." I stuttered between tears that I was trying to wipe from my eyes. He moved and took my face in his hands, gently brushing off the salty liquid with his delicate fingers.

"I didn't know how to talk to you after I just vanished. I was never even given the chance to say goodbye to my best friend. How could I just pick up the phone and act like that never happened? I was so scared you would hate me. You had every right to." I tried to look away as more tears formed in my eyes but he kept my gaze locked with his, "It hurt so bad to not be able to answer your calls, but even more so when you stopped calling all together."

"T—There was no point in calling someone who didn't want to talk to me." I told him.

"There was nothing I wanted more than to talk to you. To tell you about Japan and all of the amazing things I had learned. I wanted to share everything with you, like we have always done. I wanted to make sure your mother was all right and that your stepfather was behaving. I wanted to know what I was missing at our school and how your dance lessons were coming. I wanted it to be like I never left. But I was also so scared that my grandmother would think that I was trying to contact mother…" He trailed off. His mother had informed me of his arrangement before she disappeared. I felt his hands trembling against my cheeks, so I reached up and placed my hands on top of his, trying to comfort him. Now wasn't the time to tell him about my family.

"Let's be grateful that we are together now." I said, feeling in my heart that I was forgiving him. It wasn't his fault entirely. To some degree I always knew that but now, seeing his face, looking into those beautiful and sincere eyes, I knew I forgave him.

"I will do everything I can to make it up to you." He vowed, pulling me into a hug. I believed him.


	7. Chapter 7

"What the hell is this?" I asked half awake.

"It's the girls' uniform for Ouran of course!" Tamaki smiled brightly, way too awake for the early hour that it was. The next morning, around 6:15 a.m., nearly an hour before my alarm was scheduled to go off, and Tamaki was standing in my room holding one of the horrid yellow dresses.

"Do I have to?" I whined.

"Of course! It's a uniform!" I pulled the covers over my head and groaned. I didn't want to leave the comfort of the bed to put on a disgusting dress and go to a snobby school. I heard him hang up the garment and move across the room to my bed.

"Don't even think about it." I said, sensing he was close. I could hear him chuckling right beside my bed and a moment later, all of the blankets had been ripped away.

"Good morning!" He cheered happily. I rolled over, turning my back to him, and curled up into a ball as to conserve warmth.

"Noooo." I whined. I felt him climb onto the edge of the bed and he placed a hand on my shoulder, shaking me slightly.

"Wake up, sleepy!" he said. I grabbed his hand off of my shoulder and flipped him over me to where he was laying on his back on my bed. I moved closer to him, feeling sleepier, and placed my head on his warm shoulder and a hand against his firm chest.

"Shh. More sleep." I told him simply.

"B—but!" he tried to argue. I moved closer to him, entangling one of my legs with his to prevent him from escaping.

"Shh. You're warm. More sleep." I muttered as I began to doze off. I thought I felt him move and wrap his arms around me, pulling me closer, but I wasn't sure if I was dreaming or not.


	8. Chapter 8

An hour later my alarm was going off. I groaned and tried to move to turn it off, only to find myself trapped by two strong arms. My eyes shot wide open as I remembered what had happened earlier this morning.

"T—Tamaki…" I whispered, hoping he'd let me go, "You're going to wrinkle your uniform." He groaned a bit and pulled me closer. I wanted to nuzzle into him, to stay cuddled like this a little longer, but I knew if we didn't get up, we would be late for school. _I can't believe we fell asleep like this…_ I thought as I struggled to get out of his tight grip.

"Come on… Weren't you the one trying to wake me up! I still need to get dressed." I heard him groan slightly before opening his eyes and looking down at me in surprise.

"L—Lori?" He stuttered, releasing me from his tight grip. I sat up and smiled, trying to make things less awkward.

"Good morning sleepyhead." I climbed out of bed and turned off the alarm.

"G—Good morning. I'm sorry I fell asleep." He replied, blushing deeply as he climbed out of my bed.

"It's not your fault. I kind of forced you to…" I laughed, embarrassed, as I pulled the yellow dress off of the hanger and headed toward the bathroom, "I'm going to get ready now, okay?"

"O—Okay. I'll go check on breakfast." He replied, "I'll come get you in a few minutes." I waved at him as he left the room. Once the door was closed, I quickly moved into the bathroom and changed into the uniform. I looked in the mirror. It was terrible. I guess it did make my waist look very small, but I would have rather worn anything else. I stared in the mirror as I brushed out my hair. I forgot to take it down before bed last night so it had curled rather nicely. I applied a thin layer of make up before pinning some of my hair back and putting on my stockings. I walked out of the bathroom to find Tamaki brushing the wrinkles out of his jacket.

"You look very handsome, Tamaki." I smiled, startling him a little. He smiled at me before walking across the room and taking my hand.

"And you, my dear, look spectacular." I laugh and hit his arm.

"Don't be ridiculous, this dress is horrible." I told him. Still holding my hand, he spun me around, as if we were dancing, to get a full look at me.

"No, I think you wear it proudly Lori." I blushed, forcing myself to look up at him and smile. It was then that I noticed his ties was a bit crooked from our nap. I reached up and began straightening it.

"Here, you're all crooked." I giggled.

"Oh, thank you." He replied, caught a bit off guard. When I was finished he led me out of the room to breakfast.

"Class. Today we are welcoming a new student. Some of you may recognize her, but please treat her like you would any other classmate." My teacher said before motioning for me to come into the classroom. I took a deep breath, the way I did before every performance, and stepped into the room. I was met with several gasps and a few shrieks of excitement. I walked to the front of the room and bowed toward the class.

"Oh my god! You're Lori Robin!" Someone yelled from the back of the class.

"It is my honor to be in your class." I said before excusing myself to an open seat in front of Kyoya and next to Tamaki. As I pulled out my notebook to begin class, I heard whispers around the entire room about my presence in their school.

"Alright, alright, I know it is very exciting, but let's get back to work." The teacher said, trying to reclaim the attention of his students. I let out a relieved sigh as the whispers subsided. As I began taking notes on what the teacher was saying, a folded up piece of paper landed on my desk. I was a bit surprised and looked around to see if someone was staring at me, waiting for me to open it. I saw no one. Curious, I opened up the note to find a note written in French.

You're doing fine, just keep breathing. Everyone will love you. You've made it through the toughest part. Keep your head up little songbird.

I blushed a bit at my old nickname, realizing the note was from Tamaki. He called his little songbird when we were children because he was the only person I would practice my singing in front of. I smiled to myself, folding the note up and sticking it into the back of my notebook for a rainy day. I thought I heard Kyoya make a '_hmmm'_ sound from behind me, but I told myself that I was just imagining it.


	9. Chapter 9

For someone who hadn't been in a real school system for a few years, it surprised me when it was suddenly lunchtime. As soon as the teacher dismissed us for our break, my classmates swarmed my desk.

"Oh my god! I absolutely love you!"

"You're so talented!"

"What's it like to be famous!?"

"I absolutely love you!"

"Do you know Demi Lovato?"

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Will you go out with me?"

"Can we, like, be best friends?"

"I think you're fantastic!"

"Your hair is so pretty! Who is your stylist?"

"Are you going to be performing at Ouran?"

All of the rapid-fire questions were making me dizzy and I desperately wanted to just runaway. Maybe coming to a large school was a bad idea.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please give Miss Robin some space. She will be at the Host Club this afternoon and would be happy to answer your questions then, but right now it is her break time. Please give her some space." I heard someone say from behind me. I looked back to see Kyoya standing there clearing a path in the crowd for me to escape through.

"Kyoya?" Tamaki asked from beside him, surprised that he would promise such a thing. I walked over to the pair and smiled up at the blonde.

"Sounds fun." I told him, "But can we please go get food? I'm really hungry."

"Of course." Tamaki grinned down at me.

"Please excuse us. I will be excited to talk with each and every one of you at the Host Club this afternoon." I smiled at my classmates before bowing and following Tamaki and Kyoya out of the classroom.

"Are you alright?" my blonde friend asked as I walked between the two boys down a large hallway. I wasn't sure exactly where we were or where we were headed, but I was hoping that it was to a cafeteria of some sort.

"Yah, it's just a bit overwhelming," I laughed a bit awkwardly, "It's the price of fame I guess."

"That must be difficult to go through Miss Robin." Kyoya said. I looked up at the dark haired man.

"If you call me 'Miss Robin' I'm just going to stare at you confused, Kyoya. Please call me Lori." I told him. He looked down at me, a bit caught off guard by nodded nonetheless.

"Alright, Lori."

"Kyoya! You're not falling for my Lori are you!?" Tamaki asked dramatically.

"Oh I hope so. I was planning on running off with him by the end of the semester." I said with a straight face, looking up at the blonde. The two boys stopped walking in pure shock.

"Whaaaaa?" I heard Tamaki say. I took several more steps down the hallway before I cracked up laughing.

"I was kidding! Now, can someone please come lead the way, I have no idea where we're going!" I replied before they hurried to catch up with me.

"You're so mean Lori!" Tamaki whined as he turned us down another hallway. I could hear whispers as we passed other students and I couldn't help but start to feel a little self-conscious. I kept trying to tell myself that I had made the right decision by coming to this school, but I still couldn't stop feeling uneasy with everyone staring at me. I tried to stare ahead of me and ignore the murmurs, but it was very difficult. As Tamaki and Kyoya talked, I felt like running away. Suddenly, I felt something press against my hand before lacing through my fingers. I looked down to see Tamaki had taken my hand in his. I looked up at him to see him laughing at something Kyoya had said. He looked down at me and smiled brightly, giving my hand a light squeeze before unlacing his hand from mine. I would be lying if I said I didn't feel a little sad when he let go of my hand. I was grateful for his gesture though, I felt a bit more at ease knowing he was right there to protect me. I understood though, it would probably cause more chaos than it was worth for us to be seen holding hands.

"And here," I heard Kyoya say to me, causing me to realize that he had been giving a tour of the school this entire time, "is one of the more popular dining halls."

"Oh wow." I couldn't help but say as we walked into a large room with tables covered with white tablecloths and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, "This is so fancy."

"Ouran tries to accommodate its students as much as possible. The students are more accustomed to eating in rooms like this one so it makes sense to create a nicer atmosphere for them." Kyoya explained as Tamaki led us toward the line to order. I looked around for some type of menu or list of options, but I found nothing. Once we made it to the front, I looked up at Tamaki for help only to find him smiling happily at the chefs in front of us.

"I'll have the A lunch with the C salad please. And she will have the same." He said, motioning toward me.

"Yes sir!" The chefs said in unison before getting to work preparing two beautiful trays of food. I thanked my friend for ordering for me as we sat down at one of the fancy tables. The dining hall was filled with students chatting happily to one another; it made me feel like a normal teenager for a moment. After a few minutes of talking, Tamaki and Kyoya got up to get our food, asking me to stay at the table to reserve our spot. As soon as they left, a girl moved and sat down in the chair across from me.

"H—Hello." I said, trying to sound polite.

"Don't talk. Just listen. Stay away from the Host Club. Those boys are not your friends. They are just being polite. They don't want to hang out with some wannabe bitch like you. Just let them get back to their normal lives and go back to your fake pop star flashy life you whore." The girl spat at me before getting up and storming off. I sat there in shock, trying to keep tears from escaping my eyes. I knew that there were people out there who genuinely hated me despite not knowing me, but I never expected one of them to come up to me in a place like this.

"Bon Appétit!" Tamaki said, setting the tray of food in front of me. I was still in shock and unable to do anything but stare at the chair where that girl had been sitting.

"Lori?" Kyoya asked, breaking me from my shock and causing me to realize that he was now occupying that chair and I was staring right at him.

"Excuse me." I said before pushing away from the table and running out of the room.

"Lori!" I heard Tamaki call after me but I just ran faster, tears escaping my eyes as I tried not to run into any of the other students.

"Star-chan!" Two people said in unison, grabbing my arms as I ran between them. My momentum caused me to be lifted off of the ground and pulled back to where I was in front of the twins I met yesterday.

"Star-chan? Are you okay?" One of them asked. I ducked my head before continuing to run off.

"Please excuse me."

"Lori!" I heard Tamaki call after me once more. Once I got outside I had a plan to just run away from the campus and find somewhere else to go until my next tour. Unfortunately, I was only outside for a moment before I felt somebody grab my hand and force me to stop.

"Please let me go." I begged trying to escape his grasp. He pulled me back to where I was facing him, "Tamaki, please." I couldn't stop the tears now. Instead of doing what I asked, though, he instead pulled me close to his warm body and wrapped his long arms around me.

"Lori, what happened?" He asked. I couldn't stop myself from crying into his chest.

"Please, don't worry about me. Just let me go. It was a mistake to come here. Just let me leave this place. Please." I said.

"I—I just got you back…" I heard him say quietly, "Why are you trying to leave?"

"I overestimated the kindness of the students at this school." I replied, pulling away from him and staring at the ground.

"Did someone say something mean to you?" He asked, moving a hand under my chin and forcing me to look up at him.

"She told me to stay away from you and your friends. I'd better leave before I get you boys in trouble." I answered, trying to pull my face away from his grip. He stared down at me in shock. I guess when you're popular no one says mean things to you. He then proceeded to grab my hand and start walking toward the main gate.

"Well, if you're leaving then I am too." He said authoritatively.

"Tamaki, no! You'll get in trouble." I told him.

"Then I guess we both have to stay." He smiled.

"Tamaki…"

"Just for the rest of the day? Then we can start looking at a new place to go to school together." He winked at me, "Plus, Kyoya did promise you to the Host Club." I sighed, realizing I wasn't going to win.

"Okay. But if I leave you're not transferring, the people here love you." I told him.

"No promises." He smiled brightly as we entered the building. I sighed, trying to tell myself I could get through the rest of this day.


	10. Chapter 10

The rest of the day passed by quickly. If anyone tried to speak to me directly, Kyoya or Tamaki would stop them and say that I was going to be at the club after classes let out. Other than that, everything was pretty uneventful.

"Lori~! Are you excited!?" Tamaki asked happily as we made our way to the music room. I gave him a polite smile.

"Yes." I told him, halfheartedly. As we neared the third music room, we could hear people talking, like… a lot of people talking. I began to feel nervous, the way I always felt before a big performance, as we got closer. Once we rounded the last corner before the music room, we found what seemed to be half the school standing there waiting for us.

"Look! There she is!" One yelled. Everyone began screaming and crowding around us. I froze in complete shock, unsure of what to do. Before we had a chance to act, someone lifted me high into the air and began running through the crowds of people, someone managing to get me inside the music room and away from the fans.

"Wow~ Lori-chan! You certainly are popular!" I looked down to see Honey standing beside his tall friend Mori who had grabbed me from the crowd. The tall boy set me down. I bowed and thanked him gratefully.

"Geeze. Why are there so many people today?" Haruhi asked, pushing her way through the door with Tamaki and Kyoya.

"I think I might be the source of the problem." I said, scratching the back of my head nervously.

"This might be more of an issue than I originally thought." Kyoya sighed, taking down notes in his black booklet.

"I can leave if you want. I'm a pretty fast runner so I bet I could lead the crowd away and allow you all to continue on with your club activities." I suggested with a smile.

"I don't think the King will let that happen." The twins said in unison, both leaning on my shoulders. I was confused until I looked over at Tamaki who was gushing with excitement over all of the new customers. I sighed, realizing there was no way I was going to get out of this.

"I guess it can't be helped." I sighed, "Kyoya?"

"Hmm?"

"Is there a guitar in this music room that I could borrow?" I asked him.

"I would assume so, why?"

"If you want to have a civilized afternoon then there is a good chance we'll have to tire them out a bit first. I figure I can play a song to let them behave like fans then we can get on with the afternoon?" I suggested trying to think of a way to calm the students down.

"That sounds like a good plan. Hikaru, Kaoru, will you please go find a guitar for Lori?"

"Sure!" The twins replied before taking off running to the back of the clubroom.

"If not a guitar then some speakers I could hook up to my phone would work too!" I called after them.

"Okay!" They yelled back.

"Lori! Isn't this exciting!? There are so many people here to see all of us!" Tamaki said clapping his hands together.

"I suppose so." I half smiled.

"Hmm? Is something wrong little bird?" He asked. I forced a larger smile and shook my head no, trying to be as excited as he was about all the people. I don't know if I would ever be able to be as excited as him but it made me happy to see him like this.

"It's going to be fun!" I said, mostly trying to convince myself of what I was saying.

"Star-chaaaan!" The twins said, returning from their search.

"Were you successful?" I asked.

"We found these speakers you left yesterday." One twin said.

"Will they work?" The other asked. I took them and smiled.

"These are perfect! Thank you both so much!" I replied before pulling out my phone and flipping through audio tracks of my music.

"Excuse me? Lori?" I heard Haruhi say from behind me.

"Yes?" I replied with a smile.

"I was going to make some tea, would you like some before you perform?" She asked me.

"No, thank you so much though! Oh! Haruhi! What song do you want to hear? I'm having trouble deciding." I told her.

"Oh… um… what about Blank Space? That's one of my favorites." She replied after a moment of thought.

"Perfect!" I said smiling at her and finding the track.

"Lori~! Are you ready? Kyoya wants to open the club for the day!" Honey asked me, grabbing my hands.

"Mhm! I'm ready!" I told him before he smiled and ran off to tell the other host. The hosts tried to have the other students – both girls and boys – file in neatly, but after the first few people entered it became more of a congested mess. Before anyone had the chance to get to me, I leapt up on to a table and hit the play button on my phone.

Nice to meet you, where you been?  
>I could show you incredible things<br>Magic, madness, heaven, sin  
>Saw you there and I thought<br>Oh my God, look at that face  
>You look like my next mistake<br>Love's a game, wanna play?

I spun around on my heel on the table and held my hand out to the crowd of students that had grown quiet in order to hear.

New money, suit and tie  
>I can read you like a magazine<br>Ain't it funny, rumors fly  
>And I know you heard about me<br>So hey, let's be friends  
>I'm dying to see how this one ends<br>Grab your passport and my hand  
>I can make the bad guys good for a weekend<p>

I winked at one of the boys in the audience.

So it's gonna be forever  
>Or it's gonna go down in flames<br>You can tell me when it's over  
>If the high was worth the pain<br>Got a long list of ex-lovers  
>They'll tell you I'm insane<br>'Cause you know I love the players  
>And you love the game<p>

'Cause we're young and we're reckless  
>We'll take this way too far<br>It'll leave you breathless  
>Or with a nasty scar<br>Got a long list of ex-lovers  
>They'll tell you I'm insane<br>But I've got a blank space, baby  
>And I'll write your name<p>

Cherry lips, crystal skies  
>I could show you incredible things<br>Stolen kisses, pretty lies  
>You're the King, baby, I'm your Queen<br>Find out what you want  
>Be that girl for a month<br>Wait, the worst is yet to come, oh no

Screaming, crying, perfect storms  
>I can make all the tables turn<br>Rose garden filled with thorns  
>Keep you second guessing like<br>"Oh my God, who is she?"  
>I get drunk on jealousy<br>But you'll come back each time you leave  
>'Cause, darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream<p>

So it's gonna be forever  
>Or it's gonna go down in flames<br>You can tell me when it's over  
>If the high was worth the pain<br>Got a long list of ex-lovers  
>They'll tell you I'm insane<br>'Cause you know I love the players  
>And you love the game<p>

'Cause we're young and we're reckless  
>We'll take this way too far<br>It'll leave you breathless  
>Or with a nasty scar<br>Got a long list of ex-lovers  
>They'll tell you I'm insane<br>But I've got a blank space, baby  
>And I'll write your name<p>

Boys only want love if it's torture  
>Don't say I didn't say, I didn't warn ya<br>Boys only want love if it's torture  
>Don't say I didn't say, I didn't warn ya<p>

So it's gonna be forever  
>Or it's gonna go down in flames<br>You can tell me when it's over  
>If the high was worth the pain<br>Got a long list of ex-lovers  
>They'll tell you I'm insane<br>'Cause you know I love the players  
>And you love the game<p>

'Cause we're young and we're reckless  
>We'll take this way too far<br>It'll leave you breathless  
>Or with a nasty scar<br>Got a long list of ex-lovers  
>They'll tell you I'm insane<br>But I've got a blank space, baby  
>And I'll write your name<p>

I curtseyed on the table as the students clapped and cheered.

"Thank you all so much for coming this afternoon. And thank you to the amazing Host Club for allowing me to perform. I am still very new to this school and unaware of how this club operates, but I will allow them to take over from here, so please listen to and respect them." I said with one of my stage smiles. Tamaki suddenly emerged from the crowd and extended a hand to me to help me off the table. I graciously took it before hopping down.

"Can we please have another round of applause for this lovely star performing especially for us?" Tamaki smiled before everyone clapped once more, "You were wonderful." He added in a whisper to me.

"Lori, we have a table set up for you so customers can come sit and talk with you over tea." Kyoya said, leading me away from the crowd, once far enough away for anyone to hear he added, "That was a brilliant way to calm the crowd."

"Thank you! I've had a little bit of experience with situations like this." I smiled.

My table was set up with several trays of sweets and cups of tea in front of every empty chair. Everything looked so beautiful and pristine; it seemed almost a shame to ruin the display.

"I'll send over several customers at a time, they'll stay for about fifteen minutes, then another group will come." Kyoya explained, pulling out a chair for me.

"Okay! Is there anything I should or shouldn't do?" I asked.

"I guess the best advice I could give is to be charming and keep the conversation going." He said.

"So… basically, flirt but remain unavailable?" I giggled. He shrugged but nodded before excusing himself to return to the guests. After a minute, four boys approached my table, all smiling but puffing out their chests as if trying to come across as manly.

"May we sit down?" One boy asked. I nodded, smiling up at all of them.

"Would you all like some cakes?" I offered, "Forgive me but I have never done anything like this before." I tried to act coy but sweet.

"Don't worry about it! We're all so fortunate to be sitting here with you." A different boy replied.

"I'm really the fortunate one. I have never gotten the opportunity to spend a lot of time at a real high school so I'm so excited to be able to meet so many amazing people. Please, tell me about your selves." I smiled brightly at them before taking a sip of my tea.

"I'm on Ouran's baseball team!"

"I'm the lead role in this term's play."

"I'm president of Ouran's chess club."

"I play for the soccer team!"

"Oh wow. You all seem very active! I was never that good at sports or chess but I love to watch and I love the theater!" I exclaimed, sounding much more interested that I actually was. I took Kyoya's advice and kept the conversation going but I didn't take a lot of interest in anything that they were saying. A lot of people tried to brag about themselves – especially the men – and several tried to flirt with me. Overall it wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon.


	11. Chapter 11

"Did you have fun Lori?" Tamaki asked as I gathered up the plates from my table.

"Mhm! It was really fun and everyone was really nice." I smiled, "The cakes were delicious too!"

"Ahh~ Star-chan." The twins said, snaking their arms around me.

"Can I help you boys?" I asked, looking between the two of them. One gently grabbed my chin and tilted my head toward him.

"You have some cake." The other twin said.

"Right there." The one that grabbed my face added before moving close and licking the sweet off of the corner of my mouth.

"YOU PERVERTS! LEAVE HER ALONE!" Tamaki yelled as I wiped off my face.

"Geeze. That's embarrassing. I hope it wasn't there long." I said. The twins laughed and ran off as Tamaki chased after them, calling them all sorts of names.

"They do this all the time." Haruhi sighed, collecting the plates from my table.

"Would you like some help?" I asked, taking half of the dishes from her before she could object.

"Ahh… th—thank you." She stuttered.

"I guess it's safe to assume the boys don't help too much when it comes to cleaning up?" I laughed as she nodded in response.

"That's an understatement." She sighed, exasperated.

"Is this place always so overwhelming?" I asked.

"Today actually wasn't that bad. Just wait until they start cosplaying. As soon as Tamaki-sempai gets into character… it gets to be a bit much at times." She explained. I couldn't help but giggle at the idea of these boys in different costumes.

"Why did you join the Host Club, Haruhi? I know we just met, but it doesn't really seem like the type of thing you're in to." I asked her.

"Ahh well… I sort of stumbled in here one day and broke a very expensive vase. I couldn't afford to pay them back, so I'm working off my debt." She explained as we put away the cleaned dishes.

"What exactly do you have to do to pay them back?" I asked, feeling bad that she was forced into this club.

"I have to get a certain number of clients to request me, but the number always seems to be changing. First it was one hundred, then one thousand, then that was cut by a third… but Kyoya is always adding on rental fees for the costumes." She told me as we walked back into the main clubroom.

"Tamaki!" I called to my friend who was still yelling at the twins for sexually harassing me.

"A lady shouldn't yell across a room, Lori!" Tamaki whined, giving up on the twins and coming over to me.

"A lady will do what she wants. But that's not the point, I want to help Haruhi pay back her debt to the club." I told him causing everyone in the room to stop and look at me in surprise.

"It's okay Lori, y—you don't have to." Haruhi said, equally as surprised as the rest of the hosts.

"Kyoya, you handle all the finance stuff, right?" I asked with a smile, "Haruhi mentioned you keep track of rental fees and whatnot."

"Yes." He replied simply.

"Is there a way the club could use me to make a profit that would help our Haruhi?"

"You did attract a lot of new guests… females as well as males. What do you think, Tamaki?"

"Having new guests would be fun!" Honey said.

"Yah." Mori added.

"But what about the craziness we had to go through today?" The twins asked in unison.

"We could find a way to tame that." Kyoya answered.

"It was a bit of a free-for-all today…" Haruhi stated.  
>"We would have to have stricter appointments and make sure no one gets in without one." Kyoya explained.<p>

"So? What do you think Tamaki? The dynamic duo at it again?" I asked my old friend who was being oddly quiet. His hand was on his chin and he was clearly deep in thought… but then he spoke.

"We could wear matching outfits!" He exclaimed before pulling a chest out of seemingly nowhere. He started pulling different costumes out of the chest as if looking for the perfect thing for us to wear.

"It seems that our king is on board with it. Haruhi, are you okay with Lori helping you with your debt?" Kyoya asked.

"What do you think about this Lori!?" Tamaki asked holding up a red Arabian looking dress with white and gold details.

"This is beautiful!" I told him, taking the material out of his hands as he began to pull out different accessories.

"We can be the king and queen of the host club!" Tamaki beamed, excitedly.

"I think it'll be fun!" I replied, smiling up at him. He suddenly engulfed me in a tight hug.

"So cute! That was the perfect smile for a hostess!" He cheered.

"I can't breathe…" I said, pushing myself away from him.

"Are we done for the day?" Haruhi asked, "I have to get home and get started on dinner for Dad."

"Yes, you can be excused for today. We'll see you tomorrow." Kyoya told her.

"Bye Haruhi!" I called after as she left the club room, "Is it okay if we head out soon too, Tamaki? I'd like to get a jumpstart on all this homework we have."

"Of course!" He said to me before addressing the rest of the club members, "Lori and I are off as well. Be prepared to match these costumes for tomorrow! Bye everyone!"

"See you all tomorrow! Thank you for allowing me to join your club." I bowed toward the boys, excited to have people to hang out with.


	12. Chapter 12

"Such a long day." I sighed as we got out of the car in front of Tamaki's home.

"It was a good day though, wouldn't you say?" He smiled down at me as I walked through the front door.

"Definitely!" I grinned.

"Oh, Master Tamaki. Welcome home." Shima greeted as we walked inside. I bowed at her in greeting as Tamaki said hello back, "Your father called Tamaki. He wants to take you and Miss Lorraine to dinner after he heard that she was here. He will be by at 7-o-clock to pick you both up. You'll find an appropriate dress in your room Miss Lorraine."

"A—Alright. I'll go get changed." I stuttered, before walking upstairs. I was surprised that I would be invited to such a thing. Whenever Tamaki's father would visit France I usually wouldn't see him for a few days because he wouldn't leave his dad's side. I spent my fair share of time with him as well, but I felt as though a nice dinner should be just for family.

I somehow made it to my room without any guiding from Tamaki and found a long, strapless, burgundy evening gown hanging up. I touched the soft fabric delicately in disbelief of how beautiful it was. I quickly stripped out of the horrid uniform and slipped the gown over my head. The fabric descended to the floor, hugging my body tightly. There was a long slit over my left leg that ended just above the middle of my thigh. I pulled the fabric tight over my chest and quickly realized it would be too tight with a bra on so I quickly discarded the undergarment. I couldn't quite reach the zipper at the angle I needed, so I left the back of the gown open while I went to the bathroom to do my hair and make up. I did my hair in a formal up-do, leaving a few curled pieces of hair down to frame my face. I matched my lipstick to the dark red color of the dress and put on a light shade of eye shadow.

"Lori, are you decent?" I heard Tamaki ask from the bedroom.

"Yah! You have good timing too, can you help me zip of this dress?" I asked as I walked out of the bathroom, holding the fabric close to my chest in an attempt to not make him uncomfortable. I found him standing in my room in a dark suit with a stripped tie. I smiled at him before turning around to show him where the zipper was. Needless to say, my overdramatic friend turned bright red at the sight of me in a form-fitting gown and I assumed probably more so at the sight of my exposed back.

"O—Okay." He replied walking to where I was standing. I could feel his warm hand shaking against my back as he slowly pulled the zipper up. As soon as I felt his hand leave my dress I tried to take a step forward to turn to face and thank him, but I quickly felt myself pulled backward to where his chest was pressing against my back.

"T—Tamaki…?" I shivered, startled a bit. He had one arm was placed around my shoulders while the other wrapped around my torso, his hand resting on my hip.

"I don't know if I can let you leave this house looking this beautiful." He whispered, his head resting of my bare shoulder, "I don't know what I would do if you caught the attention of some man who wanted to steal you away from me."

"Q—Quit joking around, Tamaki." I said with a smile to try and stop myself from turning bright red. He turned me in his arms, keeping his arm around my torso, his hand now on my lower back, but moved his arm from my shoulders to rest his other hand on my cheek. I felt my heart rate increase as only a few inches separated my best friend and I. He was staring deeply into my eyes. My breath hitched as I suddenly had the urge to move forward and close the space between us. I… I wanted to kiss my best friend. And from the look in his eyes, it felt as though he wanted to do the same thing.

"WHERE IS MY BEAUTIFUL SON!?" A loud sing-song voice echoed through the house causing us to break apart quickly.

"Dad!" Tamaki called excitedly.

"G—go on ahead, I'm just going to grab my shoes, I'll be right down." I stuttered, smiling up at him and trying to force my blush to fade. He smiled back before running out of the room like a child on Christmas morning. I took a deep breath trying to steady myself as I put on a pair of high heels. _What the fuck was that? _I thought before walking out of my bedroom.

- Author's Note: Sorry for such slow updates! Believe it or not, I'm actually studying abroad in France! So I've been super busy lately and probably will be for awhile but I will do my best to update ASAP!


	13. Chapter 13

"Lori! It has been too long! Look how you've grown! I'm sorry I missed you at Ouran yesterday; I was playing hooky and had someone standing in for me. If I had known it was you coming to sign the final papers I would have been there!" Tamaki's father said when I appeared in the front hall.

"It is so good to see you again, Mr. Suoh." I smiled and bowed in greeting.

"Oh please do not be so formal with me! I knew your family before you were even born, you're practically family." He told me, engulfing me in a hug.

"Ah… right…" I hugged him back, still a bit nervous.

"Shall we head to dinner?" He smiled looking from me to Tamaki.

"Sure! Where are we going, Dad?" my friend asked excitedly.

"It's a surprise. Just for Lori!" His dad teased, causing Tamaki's face to drop and start to whine. I giggled slightly at their behavior, happy to see my best friend getting along so well with his father. It had been awhile since I had seen a good father-child relationship. I kept my smile plastered on my face, trying not to think about my stepfather or even when I was little and my own father was still alive.

"Oh, Lori! I found this for you, in case you get cold." Tamaki said as we approached the front door. He held up a fur wrap he had been holding and smiled at me.

"Ah, thank you so much! I completely forgot that it's starting to get cold here!" I smiled back at him, blushing a bit as he gingerly placed the soft material over my bare shoulders.

"You look just like your mother." Mr. Suoh smiled sadly at me.

"She would be so happy to hear that!" I said, forcing a large grin to distract from his knowing gaze. Tamaki didn't know anything about what had happened to my mother and I was hoping to keep it that way for at least a little while longer. I didn't want to see the same sadness in him that was currently in his father's eyes.

"After you, my princess." Tamaki bowed slightly, holding the door open for me. I blushed a bit at his actions before stuttering out a thank you and walking out into the cool air. Tamaki's father repeated the same action with the door to the limo and I couldn't help but giggle at the similarities between the two men.

"Thank you so much for inviting me to dinner with the both of you, Mr. Suoh!" I said as the limo drove away from the mansion.

"It is my pleasure! I know how excited Tamaki is to have you staying with him. When he was little, you were the only thing he would ever talk about."

"Th—That's not true!" Tamaki shouted, his face turning a bit pink. I smiled a bit before bowing deeply in my seat.

"Thank you so very much for allowing me to stay in your home. I am so sorry I didn't ask for permission from you directly." I said. I stayed in my bowed position until I heard the older Suoh laugh. I looked up, a bit confused by his reaction.

"You are more than welcome in our home at any time and for as long as you desire to stay there." The older man smiled at me. I felt as though a heavy weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I had to admit that I was worried that I was invited to dinner to be asked to leave the house and find somewhere else to live. I smiled brightly at Tamaki's father and thanked him once more as the limo pulled up to the restaurant.

"Oh! Is this that new French place?" Tamaki asked as he climbed out of the car.

"Of course! I thought Lori might like something that reminds her of home!" Mr. Suoh replied, following his son out. I followed the two gentlemen, taking Tamaki's extended hand to help myself look graceful as I exited the vehicle. We were standing in front of a beautiful French-styled building covered in ivy. For a moment I really felt like I was back in France. Back before everything went to shit…

"It's beautiful." I smiled as we walked inside. Even the inside of the building looked very Parisian.

"Only the best for the best, my dear." Mr. Suoh said, placing a hand on my shoulder and smiling at me from the side – Tamaki's favorite technique. I suddenly felt an arm wrap around my waist and pull me away.

"Leave her alone, Dad!" Tamaki whined, holding me close to him. I blushed as Mr. Suoh laughed before greeting the host who would show us to our table. My friend wouldn't remove his arm from my waist as we walked into the restaurant. My face turned a bit darker as he held me protectively. I suppose he really didn't want me to leave the house in a dress like this one. I couldn't help but notice everyone staring at us as we walked to our table.

"Here you are, Monsieur." The host said, gesturing to our table. It was next to a large window that overlooked the city.

"Oh wow…" I whispered, amazed by the view.

"Princess," Tamaki smiled, bowing slightly as he pulled out the chair with the best view, "Please sit here."

"Only the best for the best." His father repeated, pulling out his own chair and waiting for me to be seated before sitting.

"You both know how to make a girl feel special." I giggled, sitting as Tamaki pushed my chair in for me. The two men smiled at me as they took their seats.

"Please order anything you would like. I was thinking of getting a bottle of Bordeaux for the table if you both would like some. After all, what is a French meal without some French wine?" Mr. Suoh said.

"That sounds fantastic. It has been awhile since I've been able to relax with a good glass of wine." I smiled. Bordeaux was always my favorite.

…

The meal passed by slowly – traditional for Europe – with several courses and some amazing wine. I was so happy I couldn't really control myself. I couldn't stop smiling. The company was great; the conversation was light and fantastic; the food was unbelievable. I couldn't remember the last time I had felt this happy.

"Tamaki, why don't you go call the driver and I'll pay the check?" Mr. Suoh asked once the meal had come to an end.

"Alright. I'll be right back." My best friend replied with a smile before excusing himself to use his cell phone outside. Once Tamaki was out of earshot, his father spoke to me directly while handing his credit card to our waiter.

"You haven't told him, have you? About your mother?" He asked. My smile faded a bit at his question.

"No, I just know how sad he'll be. I can't stand to see him upset. He always looks like a kicked puppy when he's sad. I couldn't tell him that she died… I didn't want to cause him to look that way." I replied, looking down at my lap.

"He really does have a certain look when he's sad." Mr. Suoh chuckled slightly.

"I meant to write you, I wanted to thank you for the flowers and the money you sent. It was just the perfect amount for me to get out of that house and start my career." I bowed gratefully.

"You're welcome. Tamaki's mother and I tried so hard to convince your mother that that man was a monster, but he fooled her. I just wish he hadn't treated you so badly when she wasn't there."

"H—How did you know how he treated me?" I asked, my eyes growing wide in shock. I always tried to hide the bruises that my stepfather had left on me; I couldn't believe that this man had noticed.

"Tamaki told me. He once said that he was worried something was wrong because you were always saying that you had fallen or run into something but that he never saw you behave in such a clumsy manner. I simply worked it out from there." I smiled sadly down into the last of my glass of wine.

"You really have a brilliant son." I told him, looking back up at him.

"I think I'll keep him around." Mr. Suoh winked with a grin, "I always thought that you two would get married one day. I still kind of hope it. For his sake, and for my own, honestly. You would be so good for him and I would just love to have you as a daughter-in-law!" He gushed a bit, smiling brightly while signing the check that had been returned.

"I think you would make an excellent father-in-law." I grinned back, giggling slightly.

"The car is almost here." Tamaki said, walking back to our table, "What are you laughing about?" He was confused as to our amusement.

"I hope you like Lori, son, because I think I've just chosen her to be your future wife!" Mr. Suoh laughed.

"You father and I are too close for me to be gotten rid of." I giggled.

"I—I guess that's alright with me." Tamaki blushed. Before I had a chance to tell him I was just kidding, I felt a small tap on my arm. I turned to look down at a little girl, no older than seven or eight, standing there with a nervous smile.

"Excuse me, aren't you Lori Robin?" She asked, her mother standing not to far behind her.

"Yes I am!" I smiled brightly, putting on my charm for a young fan.

"W—Would it be alright if my mama took a picture of us?" She asked timidly.

"Of course it's alright little one! What's your name?"

"I'm Sakura! Thank you so much!" She bowed as I stood and crouched down to her level.

"It's so nice to meet you Sakura!" I replied before smiling at her mother's camera. After a few pictures were taken, the little girl and her mother bowed in thanks.

"Lori has fans of all ages." Tamaki smiled, standing next to his father.

"I suppose so." I giggled, blushing slightly at being recognized by a fan.

"Shall we head out? I assume you two have homework you should be doing?" Mr. Suoh grinned.

"Oh yah… Schoolwork…" I sighed.

"I'll help you!" Tamaki smiled before extending an arm to escort me out of the restaurant.


	14. Chapter 14

I don't remember much about the ride home, or even the walk back to my room, but now I was lying on my bed still in my dress.

"That was so much fun~" I sighed happily, rolling onto my stomach.

"It really was~!" Tamaki replied, sitting next to me on the bed.

"I'm so full though, I don't want to eat for a week!" I laughed, "Ugh… I'm going to have to take this dress off eventually…"

"I suppose so." My friend said.

I felt him move to sit next to me on the bed and startled slightly as his large hands moved to my bare shoulders to rub gently.

"You looked like you could use a massage." He explained. I sighed happily as all of the stress from the past day melted away. His hands moved a little bit lower, to the top of my dress, rubbing the knots out of my back.

"Th—Thank you." I replied, as his warm hands stretched across all of the exposed skin of my back, "Mmm, that feels so good."

"I'm glad, you deserve to feel good, my princess." He said, his hands moving a bit farther down my back, pulling the fabric of the dress down a bit with them. I shivered a bit as the zipper of my dress opened up a bit, revealing more of my back to him. I couldn't help but moan softly in pleasure as his hands worked magic on my tense back. He stopped, caught off guard by my noise.

"S—Sorry…" I blushed. I felt him move on the bed and suddenly, his lips were on the back of my neck. I froze, his hands moving to my sides as his lips moved to my bare shoulder.

"Lori." He whispered against my skin. One of his hands moved from my side to my zipper before tugging it down gently. I shivered as his hands moved to my exposed back to continue massaging me.

"T—Tamaki…" I sighed happily. His hands made their way to my lower back, his long fingers extending to my hips. He kissed his way up my neck causing me to shiver. He placed his lips on my cheek. I turned my head more, wanting to feel his lips on mine.

"I love you." He whispered, nibbling on my ear. I blushed a deep shade of red as I held the unzipped dress to my chest and rolled over to where I was on my back with him leaning over me.

"I—I love you too." I replied. He grinned in response and I don't think I've ever seen him smile that wide. He moved down, slamming his lips to mine, his hands moving up and down my sides. I wrapped my arms around his neck and didn't even care when my dress slid down below my chest. His cheeks grew a bit darker as he realized my chest was exposed. He kissed down my neck, pulling the fabric farther down my body. I had no intention of telling him to stop. He froze suddenly, pulling away from me.

"I… I am so sorry Lori!" He said, blushing. I couldn't stop myself. I sat up quickly, pulling him into another kiss. I pushed him down onto the bed, pressing my chest to his and tugging at his tie until it came undone. His hands moved to my bare back, pulling me close. I somehow managed to shimmy out of the dress to where I was only in my underwear on top of my friend. I moved to where I was straddling him on the large bed. As I kissed his neck and unbuttoned his shirt, his hands moved down my back to where they were resting on my ass. After all of the buttons were undone on his shirt, he flipped me back over and began kissing my chest. His lips found their way to one of my nipples, his tongue moving around the bud. I moaned loudly, my hands tangling in his hair to encourage him. While one of his large hands massaged my other breast, his other hand trailed down my body. His fingers rested just above my underwear, gently tracing patterns against my sensitive flesh.

"T—Tamaki…" I moaned as he moved and bit down on my neck. His hand crept into my underwear and gently pressed against my womanhood. My hips twitched involuntarily as one of his fingers teased me.

"Lori~" He smiled against my skin.

"Pl—Please…" I begged as he continued to tease me. He chuckled a bit before sliding one of his long, slender fingers inside of me. I moaned loudly, my back arching in pleasure.

"I want to hear you, Lori." He whispered in my ear, causing me to shiver as he slowly moved his finger in and out of me.

"T—Tamaki… A—Ahh—" I gasped as he inserted another finger into me.

"Mmm, I don't think I've heard my name sound so good." He chuckled, before kissing me and increasing the speed of his fingers. I bit my lip as pleasure built up inside of me. I screamed out, gasping as he drove me close to an orgasm.

"Lori…" He whispered, "Lori.. Lori? Lori!?"

I awoke with a start. It was a dream. J…just a dream. A very vivid dream… but still just a dream.

"Lori? Are you okay?" Tamaki asked, sitting next to me on my bed. I was wearing nothing but a large t-shirt and was grateful that the blankets covered the rest of me.

"Y—Yah… I'm alright." I replied, unable to look him in the face as I trying to keep from blushing.

"Were you having a nightmare?" He asked.

"Something like that… What time is it?" I replied.

"Around 4:15 I think. I heard you crying out in your sleep and when I came to check on you, you were tossing and turning." He told me.

"S—Sorry." I said softly. He pulled me close to him, I could feel the heat radiating off of him through his silk pajama shirt and it didn't do anything to help stop me from blushing.

"You're okay now. You fell asleep in the car so I brought you to bed. A maid changed you and hung up your dress so it wouldn't wrinkle." He explained, petting my hair softly.

"Th—Thank you, Tamaki." I replied, hugging him back, not wanting to let go.

"I—I should get back to bed and let you sleep, I'm glad you're okay." He stuttered, pulling away from me. I grabbed his hand before he could get up, still not looking him in the eye.

"C—Could you lie with me? Just for a little while? Like when we were kids…" I asked, not wanting him to go just yet. He was quiet for a long moment, as if considering whether or not this was a bad idea.

"Of course, my little songbird." He replied before sliding into bed next to me. I moved to where my forehead was pressed against his shoulder, not wanting him to feel trapped if he decided to leave after I fell asleep. He turned to lie on his side, facing me, and pressed his forehead to mine, petting my hair gently. I shut my eyes, enjoying the feeling of his sweet touch.

"You're always too good to me." I yawned, half awake.

"You deserve the world, Lori. I just want to be able to give it to you." He whispered as I returned to the land of sleep.


	15. Chapter 15

I awoke a few hours later to the sound of my alarm going off. I was still so tired though.

"Son of a bitch." I cursed swatting blindly at the clock. My hand came into contact with something larger than my alarm though and I heard a very distinct _ow!_ I opened my eyes, surprised that I would hear someone else's voice in my bed.

"You're so mean in the mornings, Lori!" Tamaki whined, sitting up in bed and rubbing his head.

"Ah… Sorry. I just really like sleeping…" I blushed, embarrassed for my lackluster charm in the mornings.

"Will you hit e again if I tell you that we have to get up?" Tamaki asked, moving away from me.

"Probably not." I sighed before climbing out of bed. I turned back to see Tamaki's face turn bright red. I was confused by his reaction before I looked down to see that I was only wearing a large t-shirt. I blushed a bit myself before walking to my closet and trying to play it off.

"I'm going to go get dressed!" Tamaki called after me as I pulled out my uniform.

"Alright!" I replied. As I pulled off my shirt I felt my face heat up once more. I couldn't get that dream out of my mind. Where the hell did that come from? I wasn't attracted to him. I couldn't be. He was my best friend! There was no possible way that could end well. Especially with his psychotic followers that were all in love with him. I sighed as I put my shoes on and moved to the bathroom to fix my hair.

"Breakfast is ready!" Tamaki called from my door.

"Coming!" I replied, giving up on my hair and just throwing it up in a messy bun.

xxxxx

The day went by rather quickly. I guess students at Ouran are only interested in something new for a day. As I walked the halls there was significantly less staring and only a handful of girls glared at me as they saw me with the Host Club. Overall it was a pretty relaxed day.

"Our guests are going to love what we have in store for them today!" Tamaki cheered as we made our way to the clubroom.

"You said yesterday that you wanted something Arabian? Like that week we went to Morocco?" I asked.

"Exactly!" He clapped his hands together excitedly. Once we made it to the clubroom I saw that several of the other hosts were already there.

"You're running late today, Boss." The twins said as we entered. They were dressed in matching orange pants with green jackets and no shirts.

"Lori-chan! Lori-chan!" Honey called, running up to me.

"You look so cute!" I smiled at the boy. I had to remind myself that he was older than me, but in his outfit he looked like a child playing dress-up.

"What are you going to wear Lori-chan?" He asked me.

"Oh… um… I don't know. I don't have anything…" I replied.

"I'm sure Tamaki has it covered." Kyoya explained, appearing already in a new outfit. The all black really suited him.

"Sorry I'm late!" Haruhi said entering the room. She was still in her uniform like me.

"Found them!" I heard Tamaki yell from a back room. He sounded way too excited for it to be anything good, but I couldn't help but laugh as he came running out. He was dressed in red and white and definitely matched the theme of the day. He looked surprisingly attractive with his shirt cut rather low.

"What did you find, Tama-chan?" Honey asked. My friend smiled before showing us the outfits he had found.

"This is for Haruhi and this is for Lori!" He told us. I looked over the outfits; the one for the younger girl was an off white with pink accents. It was really cute! I looked over mine and found that it matched Tamaki's a bit. The colors were the same but it looked beautiful.

"I guess we should go change then!" I smiled, grabbing my outfit. Haruhi led me to a separate room where we could change clothes.

"Do I even want to know why they have a woman's costume here?" I asked with a giggle as I pulled off my uniform.

"Probably not. They're a little… adventurous." She replied, sounding exasperated.

"And not really the brightest it seems, I still can't believe they thought you were a boy!" I laughed pulling the new dress over my head. The dress was floor length with sleeves stopped right after my elbows. I think my favorite part of the garment was that there was a long white sash that was attached the red dress that was meant to cross in front of me and rest over my arm. I wrapped it around me and adjusted it until it looked perfect.

"Yah, they're certainly… special." She chose her words carefully as she tied the pink scarf around her neck. I found a white scarf and tied it around my head, tucking my hair into it. I went to my bag and pulled out a compact mirror and my emergency make up kit.

"I can see that. When we were kids Tamaki definitely missed out on a lot of things because he was always off in his own little world. He barely noticed anything that didn't directly involve him." I giggled as I put on a dark eye shadow and some mascara, "Et, voilà!" I said in French, turning to her to show her my finished product.

"You look pretty." She smiled at me, adjusting her outfit.

"So do you! But here," I replied before moving to fix her hair a bit, "There you go. Perfect!"

"Thank you." She said before we made our way out to the others. In the time we had changed, several tapestries and other decorations had been placed around the room.

"Oh wow, this place looks great!" I grinned looking around the room.

"Lori! Tu es belle, trop mignonne!" Tamaki said in French gushing over my new appearance. I blushed at the fact that he called me cute but waved a hand in front of my face to try and distract from that.

"Don't be silly!" I told him, "How much longer until the first guests arrive?" I looked to Kyoya for an answer.

"Not much longer. How about we get in position?" the boy told me before moving everyone to be displayed across from the main entrance.


	16. Chapter 16

A few moments after we were in place, the door opened to reveal a young boy in an elementary school uniform.

"Welcome to the Ouran Host Club." They all said at once. I suppose I would have to get in the habit of saying that too. The boy fell backward in surprise. Poor thing, he probably got lost and certainly didn't expect this.

"Oh, it's just a kid." Hikaru said.

"Not only that, it's just a boy." Kaoru added.

"What's wrong little boy? Did you come to my palace in search of something?" Tamaki asked, fully immersed in his role as the Arabian king.

"Oh dear God." I sighed from behind him, not even slightly surprised by his dramatics.

"Ah… Um… A—Are you the king of this place?" The boy asked, standing up. I heard my friend gasp in surprise before smiling excitedly.

"Here goes the fantasy…" I mumbled, realizing it wasn't going to be long before he was lost to the real world.

"Well are you?" The boy asked again.

"Come closer, little one." Tamaki said, the boy walked toward us, "What was it you just called me little boy?" _Oh, don't repeat it._ I begged, knowing exactly how he'd react.

"The king." The boy repeated. Tamaki leapt to his feet, flailing about dramatically.

"Ah! The king! Yes! I am the king of the Ouran Host Club! Long live the host king!" He spun around, stars in his eyes.

"We've lost him." I sighed.

"I'm an elementary fifth year, Shiro Takaoji!" The boy exclaimed, pulling Tamaki out of his excitement, "I want the host club king to take me on as an apprentice!" We all stared at the boy in surprise. I looked up at Tamaki to find him blushing. He must have been honored to have such an admirer.

"Yah, he's not coming back from this one." I laughed a bit. It was decided that for such a young apprentice, it might be better for everyone to change back into their uniforms so that Tamaki could be observed using his natural charm. I walked around the room, refilling teacups, and trying my best not to be too nosey. Kyoya was still trying to figure out how I would work as a hostess and be beneficial without discouraging any of the other guests from continuing to come. So, for the time being I was just helping out with this and that. I made the mistake of looking at Tamaki's table to see him holding a girl's face close to his own and speaking softly to her. He moved even closer to her, staring into her eyes and looking like he was about to kiss her.

"Don't you think it's weird he's making the kid observe him up close like that?" Haruhi asked as I moved to stand next to her and Kyoya.

"It's a bit bizarre but it's also Tamaki." I sighed, trying not to sound irritated. This was his life after all. Plus, it didn't really mean anything. I don't know if that man would ever know what true love was. Granted… He never really had good examples to follow growing up.

"There is a theory that people are considered more beautiful the closer they are viewed. Tamaki seems to live by that theory. Well, let's leave them alone." Kyoya explained. Haruhi just responded with a _hmm_.

"Kyoya, is there anything I can do to help?" I asked, hoping I could do something beside serve tea.

"Just keep up what you're doing." He told me.

"You look more like the carp that swim in my pond! I would never give false compliments like that!" I heard Shiro exclaim, catching my attention.

"A carp!?" the girl cried. I bit my tongue to keep from laughing and watched as Tamaki tried to comfort the girl.

"Don't listen to him! He's just a kid! You know how kids are. They can't help but be honest." He said quickly. She began to cry harder at his failure to help and I had to cover my mouth to hide my laughter. I felt bad for the girl but now I was laughing at Tamaki. He tried so hard all the time to be charming and princely and to see him make a mistake like this cracked me up.

"Honest!" She yelled.

"But that's just his opinion! I wouldn't say you look like a carp, and even if you did look like a carp you'd be the most beautiful carp of them all!" yikes. That was definitely not the right thing to say!"

"So I am a carp!" She bawled.

"Ah… no that's… not what I meant…" Tamaki stuttered unsure of what to say as everyone else stared at him.

"Tamaki! You're an idiot!" the embarrassed girl yelled before running out of the club room.

"Man, what a cry baby." Shiro said with a blank face as I gave up on hiding my laughter. I felt someone grab my arm and drag me toward the pissed off host king.

"That's an adorable little apprentice you've got there!" Hikaru laughed.

"Even Star-chan thinks so!" Kaoru pointed out, shoving me in front of them.

"Lori…" Tamaki pouted.

"Sorry! It was just so funny!" I said between laughs.

"Hikaru," I heard Kaoru say, "Do you wish you had a little brother like Shiro?" I turned to see him staring at his brother sadly. Hikaru moved toward him, pulling his brother close to him.

"Don't be silly, I could search the globe and never find a brother better than you, Kaoru."

"Hikaru…" I heard several girls squeal in excitement.

"Is this appropriate to do in front of a child…?" I asked quietly.

"They're homos! And they're brothers! That makes this totally inceptuous!" the poor boy yelled in shock.

"I think what you meant to say was incestuous." Tamaki said, his arms folded in front of his chest in frustration. As the younger boy turned around Honey appeared and attacked him with a hug.

"Shiro-chan!" the senior exclaimed, "You want to have a piece of cake with me? We've got three kinds! Chocolate, strawberry, and lime!"

"Hey back off! What grade are you in, anyway? Why are you wearing a high school uniform?" Shiro barked. Upon hearing his friend being yelled at, Mori appeared behind the two boys, towering over them like a giant.

"Something wrong, Mitsukuni?" he asked. Crying a bit, Honey leapt onto the taller man's shoulders.

"That's not fair! A little kid like you isn't supposed to have a cool, older friend like him!" Shiro yelled, backing up in surprise, running right into Haruhi who was carrying a tray of tea. Thankfully, nothing was broken and the girl was able to balance everything well on the tray.

"Are you alright?" She asked the boy, "I know, it's kind of hard getting used to all the weirdoes around here. It took me awhile to get adjusted to all the craziness, so don't freak out. I'm sure you'll get used to it." She sounded like a mom. The way she tried to comfort him and the smile she gave him, I'm kind of surprised no one has figured out her real gender yet. "Something wrong?" she asked him when he didn't respond.

"Are you a cross-dresser?" the boy questioned bluntly. Suddenly, Tamaki rushed across the room and placed his large hand over the young boy's eyes.

"Okay! That's enough! I think Shiro should take care of the tea for us, don't you?" He asked.

"Wow Haruhi, you're looking extra manly today!" Kaoru said as the twins gushed over her.

"Now do what the boss says and let Shiro take care of that tea set! It's part of his training! You're too macho for tea sets." Hikaru added before the three of them laughed nervously.

"These boys are so sexist." I sighed as the boy swatted Tamaki's hand away.

"Now be careful with it, it's pretty heavy." Haruhi warned, handing the tray to him. He managed to hold on to it for about a second before he let the tray drop to the ground, shattering all of the fine china it held. The four hosts tensed up as they stared down at the broken glasses and pot.

"It's not my fault I dropped it. It's your fault cause you're the one who made me take it in the first place." Shiro told Haruhi matter of factly.

"Say what?" She asked.

"Haruhi, that's another 100,000 yen." Kyoya told her, writing in his little book.

"HUH!?" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Hey! You should make the cross-dresser do all your stupid chores! Or that girl!" Shiro pointed at me, "I'm not here to carry tea sets I'm here to learn how to make women happy!"

"Little shit. I'll show you who should be carrying a tea set and doing chores." I cursed under my breath.

"You won't get anywhere with that attitude and I am not going to let you disrespect Haruhi and especially not Lori!" Tamaki growled, clearly frustrated, "So! Put this brat in isolation!" I found myself blushing a bit at how protective he was being. Not to mention, I had never really seen Tamaki angry before. I had seen him upset or irritated but not like this. It was kind of hot… I shook the thought from my head. I seriously have to stop thinking about my friend like that.

"You got it boss!" The twins yelled. I jumped in surprise as a cage descended from the ceiling, trapping the young boy inside.

"What's going on here!? Why'd you put me in a cage all of a sudden1?" Shiro screamed.

"Yah, and where'd it come from?" Haruhi asked, "This is supposed to be a music room, right?"

"Is this even legal…?" I questioned as I handed Tamaki a cup of tea and sitting down at the same table. He gave me a quick, grateful, smile as he took the cup. His smile faded at the sound of the young boy leaping onto the bars of the cage.

"This is no way to treat your loyal apprentice! Now let me out of this cage!" Shiro continued yelling as Tamaki sighed.

"Not until you've learned your lesson. I made you my apprentice because I thought you were serious about becoming a host, but I guess I was wrong." My friend said, annoyance still in his voice. He slowly sipped on his tea, uncaring about the child he had put in a cage. _Wow. What a keeper. He'll make such a good father one day._ I thought sarcastically. I knew I could be impatient but I had never put anyone in a cage before.

"I am serious! Totally serious!" the boy begged as Tamaki sighed once more, "I want you to teach me how to make a woman happy! I'm going to run out of time. Please won't you teach me? You're a host because you like girls. You like bringing a smile to a girl's face. That's why you do it, right? Please won't you teach me to be like you? You're a genius at it! You're the king!" _Run out of time? _ I didn't have long to dwell on his words before Tamaki had leapt up from his seat in excitement. If Shiro was half as good at saying to women wanted to hear as he was at saying what Tamaki wanted to hear, he'd make an excellent host.

"Well, you may be a brat, but I admire your desire to become a host, so I'll teach you." My friend promised.


End file.
